Sunshine
by evil vixen sue
Summary: Max hated rainy days. Alec tries his best to help.
1. Sun Trouble?

**Title : Sunshine****  
****Rating : K+ ish****  
****Show : DA****  
****Pairing : M/A****  
****Summary:** Max hated rainy days. Alec tries to help.  
**A/N : **Written for GBM's Heat Fic Competition. Alexis hon, thanks for the beta job +huggles+

* * *

**Sunshine**

Above their heads, the sun was an orange ball of heat. Sweat was running down their bodies, twisting and turning in miniscule rivers as their limbs gained momentum.

"Can you… faster?" Max gasped, breathing hard. Alec heard the hitch in her voice and that tiny catch almost undid him but he ignored her, intent on keeping his pace.

"Dammit, go! They're right behind us!" Max shrieked and he wiped the sweat from his eyes and grabbed her slick hand before blurring to the edge of the park. If you could call it a park in the first place. The smattering of trees was the only thing left in this concrete jungle.

After he made sure their pursuers were not in sight, he quickly pushed her up a tree before he scrambled after her. They huddled close, panting as they listened hard for the tell-tale sounds of pursuit. Less than a minute later, they both stopped breathing instinctively as loud shouts and angry footsteps pierced the silent air.

Max scooted backwards on her branch, not noticing that her ass was squashed into Alec's thigh. Alec didn't react and just grabbed her arm to stop her from moving. He squeezed her arm to silence her so he could listen to the furious crowd underneath them.

If they were put in the same situation somewhere else, there would be stunned silence before both of them sprang apart faster than a coiled spring, but hell, they were preoccupied today. And, if they moved farther apart they'd tumble down the tree in a second. The branch can hardly contain one person and since there were two of them… it was pretty easy math to figure out.

"Stop squirming," he hissed. "They're gonna hear you."

"Keep your hands to yourself, pervert." she hissed back.

"You want to fall down this damn tree? Be my guest."

The feel of his hot breath on her skin was hard to ignore and in typical Max reaction, she ran. She stretched herself up so she could sneak a peek at the commotion below, or avoid his nearness. Whatever works.

Alec gritted his teeth as she writhed and squirmed against him, the feel of her hot lithe body too much to bear. He wrapped one hand around the branch and the other one around her waist.

He ignored her muffled shriek about him manhandling her and asked tersely, "What do you see?"

"They're fanning the area. Maybe they'll get tired and leave soon."

Max returned to her spot, instinctively huddling closer to him when the noise level increased somewhat, which is a given when there's an excited bunch of people running around.

What a whack-a-doodle day. She looked up, saw the bright orange sun and scowled. Who would've thought trying to avoid rain and getting wet could lead to so much trouble?

* * *

_It was raining today._

_And it rained yesterday. And the day before. Jeez, like no one wouldn't see _that_ coming. _

_How on earth can it rain so much? If she remembered correctly, and she did, photographic memory and all, heat vaporizes water and the steam rises to the sky and forms clouds. And when the clouds get too heavy, it falls back to land as rain. And since she didn't see the sun in a while, a very long while, where did all this rain come from?_

_Max huffed and pulled the hood tighter around her face. She aimed one of her patented death glares at the foul weather and weird science and telepathically dared nature to make her day worse. And would you believe it, was that freakin' lightning that she saw?_

_She grit her teeth and shoved the parcels Normal forced into her hands earlier with added force, pushing it deeper into her backpack. Her eyes skimmed over the last address and scowled. That sadistic man had the nerve to send her all the way to Sector 8 in this torrential downpour?_

_She is so calling in sick tomorrow. Heh, that'll show him._

* * *

Alec's body stiffened, when her lush backside collided against him… again. He would've found the situation hilarious and amusing on most occasions. But no, today was not one of them. He was in no mood to appreciate it.

He smacked one side of her hips sharply. "Stop moving or I'll push you down this freakin' tree."

"You wouldn't dare." She didn't even turn around. He was just contemplating kicking her ass down just because she said he wouldn't when she added, "And I'll take you down with me."

He glowered at her back because he could feel the smirk in her voice. But Max was intent on pushing small branches aside slowly, casing the situation.

"Hold me, I need to go lower. I can't see a thing."

"That's the idea. We do not want them to see us," he muttered angrily but he latched onto her nonetheless. "They still around?"

"God, yeah. What a weird bunch of persistent people. Okay, pull me up."

He leaned back against the knotted surface as his heartbeat slowed down. "Maybe they'll get tired and stop looking for us."

"Whose Intel is so off, huh?"

"Remember the promise of no ass kicking if it went sideways, Maxie?"

"Yeah, so?"

He wiped his sweaty brow with the back of his hand before shaking his fingers her way. That's for him being gallant earlier and not kicking her down this tree.

She muffled her shriek when drops of his salty sweat plopped on her face. "Yuck! You're disgusting," she whispered, her eyes wide in disgust.

"Your fault for forcing me to break into that damn house."

"Because you said it's some tech's house, not a house full of young nuns-to-be or whatever it is they're called."

"And now we have an angry mob, minus the torches and pitchforks, on our tail."

"Can you blame them?"

"Are you on_ their_ side now? Gee, thanks Max. That's the kind of support I want from my best bud." His voice was heavily laced with sarcasm.

"They think you're trying to ravage their fair maidens… uhh nuns. I don't know why I ran. They're after you," she glared, but the glare was without heat. She knew it was her fault, kinda. But old habits die hard.

Even in that dire situation, Alec felt his mood lightened. She didn't ditch him.

"But Maxie, look. It's not raining. That in itself is awesome," he grinned, his good mood returning.

"If you count hot as hell as awesome," she glanced sourly. "Stop talking about rain or hot or heat or I'll kick your ass down this scratchy tree. The angry mob will be happy. I'll be happy. But I don't think you'll be."

He just _had_ to add the last word. "Sun-tastic."

"Shut up."

* * *

_More tomorrow. So tell me what you think!_

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	2. Close Encounter

**A/N : **Thanks for the reviews! Here's the second part :)

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_From his perch at Normal's desk, Alec could hold a conversation with the big man (or just nod at whatever his boss gushed, both ways work for him) and still keep an eye on the going-ons of Jam Pony._

_Huh, Sketchy was trying to make a move on Steff. Alec chuckled but Normal didn't even stop talking. He saw the luscious blond sneaking glances at OC while they were at Crash on a couple of occasions already so, yeah. Sketch-man had a thing with choosing his target. Alec just made a mental note to talk to Sketch later today, maybe give the poor dude a pep talk or something._

_That's when he saw Max scowling and growling just near the entrance. His brows almost disappeared under his hair at the scene. It wasn't that he found a growling Max unusual, it was just that she was scowling and bitching at someone other than him. She must be really pissed off today._

_His eyes skittered behind her hunched form at the heavy rain and grinned. Lil kitty's grumpy because she didn't want her fur wet. Must be her cat DNA's deep loathing of the rain. A smirk rested over his lips as he continued to follow her angry form with his eyes._

_They hadn't been on an Eyes Only mission for awhile. Hmm, maybe he could drag her off somewhere warmer…__  
_

* * *

Alec could feel the silence like it was a tangible net. He nudged Max and cocked his head downwards.

"I think they're gone. I haven't heard anything for awhile already."

She slithered forward slowly and away from him and Alec took his first deep breath in an hour. It had been torture to have her pushed so closely to him and not being able to do anything. Yup, there is no God.

He watched her shimmy down the tree before he followed her. They crouched by the tree for a second before sprinting to the nearest building.

"Okay, we've lost them. Let's go get the car."

Max nodded. "Yeah, but get a hat or something first. I don't want them to come after us again."

"Good idea. I'll meet you at the car."

Max watched his rapidly disappearing back before she turned and walked slowly towards where they stashed the car. She took a sedate pace, not to bring any attention to her. The sun's heat warmed her skin and Max moved closer to one hedge. She leaned back with an exaggerated sigh in case anyone was watching while one hand grabbed something from the clothesline. Quickly, she pulled down an oversized sweatshirt and left.

In case the angry mob was still looking for them, they won't find a girl in a black jacket. She doubted they got a good look at her face, so a change of clothes was enough to throw them off track.

Max jogged slowly but didn't see anyone. That's good, she thought to herself and turned right, expecting to see the car parked right where they left it.

However, it wasn't there.

Hell, no.

* * *

_He slipped into the chair in front of her as Max scowled at people in general._

_"Buy me a beer."_

_She transferred the glare to him but he stared back unflinchingly. "I'm serious. After you heard what I have to say, you'll buy me this whole freakin' bar."_

_The scowl deepened and her eyes narrowed. "What have you done?"_

_"Say your good buddy Alec is a genius first."_

_Max leaned back, steely eyed and he sighed. "You're no fun." Jeez, she redefined the word uptight._

_"Before you start the fun-is-an-evil-emotion-it-should-be-banned speech you got goin', let me tell you," he paused expectantly, eyes gleaming, "I got a possible lead on the cure. And let me stress the word possible. I don't want you kicking my ass or something if it blows up in our faces. And the location is two days drive out."_

_"We have to go out of town?"_

_"Yeah… yeah. I know how you hate to leave this place for so long, just to get some sun, heat and possible cure for the unending love with Loggie-boy and in the mean time spend quality time with best friend Alec. But yeah, we don't have to necessarily do it in that order."_

_Two words stuck in her mind, sun and heat. She didn't care what else he was rambling about. "Let's go."_

_Alec grinned. "That's the spirit."_

* * *

I know it's a lil uh.. short but, there's more coming tomorrow!

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	3. Suntastic End

_Now, here's the last part, and thank you for those who reviews _:) _You're all awesome!_

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"Did you get the car already?" Alec jogged slowly towards her.

She saw that he had ditched his jacket and grabbed a cap, the rim pulled low over his eyes.

"Some idiot stole our car. I told you not to park here!"

"Huh," he stopped beside her, scratching the back of his head. "Someone stole the car we just stole yesterday. That thing is hot."

"Focus, Alec. How are we going to get outta here?"

"Relax, Maxie. We'll just grab another car, no biggie. We still have some money on us."

"Uh, you mean the money you told me to hold on to?"

"Yeah. I gave it to you before I went in to 'ravage' the young nuns. You still have it… right?"

"Kinda stashed it the car," she mumbled.

"It's in the car?"

"Sorta."

"Are you telling me, we have no transport, no money, and an angry mob at our back who would like nothing more than to chop us into pieces and grill our body parts for dinner?"

Despite their predicament, Max rolled her eyes at him. He could be a drama queen sometimes. "Gee Alec, you're exaggerating."

"Am I?" His green eyes were narrowed to a slit. "If_ I_ lost the only money we had, lost the car, forced you to break into a nunnery, got half of this town chasing after you, you'd kick my ass back home, rush there, stomp all over me and then, you'd kick my ass back here so the angry mob can finish me off. Am I right?"

"You sound like a girl," she muttered, pink cheeked but she grabbed his sleeve and tugged. "Let's get outta here first. With our luck, maybe the angry mob got clever and retraced their steps or something. And here we are, still fighting over a stupid car."

He let her lead him for a couple of blocks before he dug in his heels. He wasn't quite finished with her yet.

"Seriously Max. If it were me, that's the end of the world as we know it. If it's you… or someone else, you just shrug it aside and say hell, everyone makes mistakes."

"Okay… okay. What do you want me to do?"

He immediately perked up. "Anything I want?"

"No funny business. No nudity, no yucky things, and no weird stuff." She scowled because he looked so happy. What has she gotten herself into?

"You're on."

Max suddenly wanted to beat herself up at the satisfied expression on his face but dammit, there was nothing she could do about it. Not if she wanted to look like an airheaded idiot.

"And now Oh Master, what do you have in mind? And I don't want to hear anything about hitting a convenient store."

"Why not? The didn't call it _convenient_ store for nothing."

"We're not common criminals, Alec!"

"Yeah… yeah. The whole we-cannot-steal-from-people-unless-they're-on-Santa's-Bad-List."

"And?"

"Let's put ourselves further away from the angry mob first, yes?"

"Duh. Can we steal a car with a full tank this time? I'm not taking a car just because it looks nicer like last time."

Out of nowhere, a pick-up truck rumbled towards them, black smoke oozing from the truck's exhaust pipe.

"Or we can hitch hike," he mused. Immediately he sprang into action, hailing the truck while pushing her to the ground. "You sprained your ankle, okay?"

"Huh?"

Alec didn't bother to answer, his attention already on the incoming truck. Max saw that he had his we're-good-people-so-please-help-us smile. From the distance, she could see that the driver was a middle aged man with stringy gray hair and watery blue eyes.

"What's the problem, lad?" The blue eyes twinkled as he rolled down his window and peered at Alec.

"My wife here, she sprained her ankle real bad. Can you give us a lift, sir?"

"Don't you sir me," he laughed, slapping the steering wheel. "The name's Earl. Where are you and the missus headed?"

From her position on the hard ground, Max went along and rubbed her supposedly sprained ankle, smiling sadly up at Earl when he looked her way. She didn't know what else Alec told him but he sprang out of his truck and helped Alec to lead Max towards the back of his truck.

"I hope you don't have any problem with hay, lassie," he turned to her worriedly, pointing towards the mountain of hay that filled his truck.

"No… no," Max shook her head as she hobbled closer to the truck. "Thanks for helping us, Earl."

"It's a pleasure. I don't want to be out and about on this hot day, but the old missus wants cold lemonade and we ran out of ice so," he shrugged his shoulders.

"We love this heat," Alec interrupted. "Back home, it rains pretty much everyday. We like it here. Right, baby?"

"Yeah," she replied without thinking. It took her a second before realizing that yeah, if you pushed aside being busted by half the town, losing transport and the money thing, it was a pretty okay day. At least it wasn't raining.

"I wish it would rain once in a while." Earl looked morosely at the bright blue sky. He leaned back against his truck as Alec pulled Max up into the back of the truck.

Max snorted. "Yeah, right. If you like wet clothes that clung annoyingly to you twenty four seven."

Earl chuckled and turned to Alec, "She sure has problems getting wet, eh?"

Alec nodded with sham seriousness. "I'd swear she's half cat and everything."

Earl's loud laugh reverberated around the quiet area, cutting off Max's red-faced retort. "Play nice, kids." He slapped the side of his truck, winking. "I won't be around to babysit." With that he turned and whistled, walking towards the driver's seat.

"Haha. That is so funny," she drawled, leaning back against a bale. She threw a stick at him for good measure.

"It is, isn't it?" Alec straightened his long legs with a loud groan. "My poor legs."

"Keep your weird-ass comments to yourself, if you still want to _feel_ your legs after this."

The wind brushed against their heated skin as the truck started moving. Alec turned to her as she tossed the sweatshirt over one of the bales. A second later, her jacket landed at his feet.

"Please tell me you're getting naked."

"You wish." She stretched out slowly, smiling as the breeze caressed her skin. "It's too hot to get bundled up."

Alec swallowed. Max looked so attainable, so close at that moment, but so far at the same time. Unconsciously, he acted in his default Alec reaction. He threw his cap at her.

Max narrowed her eyes as the cap hit the side of her knee before sliding down, landing on the hay sloppily. "What the hell are you doing, Alec?"

"I wanna join in your strip game, Maxie, what else."

"I'm not stripping!" she sputtered, scrambling to sit and glare at him at the same time. "I'm taking off unnecessary clothes, that's all."

"Whatever." He pursed his lips and shrugged out of his shirt. "If you can strip, so can I."

"No, I'm not!" her voice climbed upwards a couple of notches at the sight of his gleaming torso. "I still have my top on, you idiot. Put your shirt back on. Now!"

Alec stretched for a few seconds, ignoring her completely. "Man, this heat is making me sleepy." He faked a huge yawn and flopped backwards, watching her under hooded lids as she continued to fume and glare.

He'd force her to put her shirt on again, even if it killed him. What was she thinking, going around in her underwear? Eh. Almost in her underwear.

He recalled seeing a hint of pink lace peeping under her black tank top and smothered a moan.

Damn you, Max.

How can she go around wearing _pink lace_ on a freakin' mission? Pink lace!

Lace is bad enough. To have it in a palest of pink, almost the colour of the blush currently riding high on her cheeks was absolute torture. It made him want to tear it aside and see if he can make her turn that same colour on other parts of her body.

Damn. That's dangerous territory. Do not go there, soldier.

Alec opened one eye to see whether she had regained her senses and put that damn shirt back on and almost growled. Of course she hadn't.

She was leaning against one of the bales, arms crossed over her chest angrily as she stared dead ahead.

Under the hot burning sun, Max was fuming. Hell, she felt she was radiating more heat than the sun, and it was all because of stupid Alec.

Stupid _stupid_ Alec.

He thought she was stripping in front of him? In public? In front of _him_? Like hello! It's her he's talking about. Miss I-don't-want-to-show-skin-unless-it's-a-life-and-death-situation here.

Maybe he didn't know her after all? Wait, did he know her well enough to trick her into doing something else? Dammit, with Alec, you never knew. But, did he think she'll steam throughout the ride in that heavy sweatshirt? Hell, no.

Her dark eyes skimmed over the gleaming skin and for no reason, her heart goddamn skipped a beat. What the hell was that about? It's Alec. There was no need for the whole skipping heart thingy.

Her molars gnashed together as she tried to find a plausible reason. Sun stroke? Huh, maybe she needed to get under the shade… asap. But, the heat felt so good against her skin and she didn't want to move anytime soon. No, not yet.

Max sneaked another peek to see that he was asleep… or doing a very good job at faking it. His skin had turned a delicious peach from the sun. In fact, he looked good enough to eat.

Eh? That's Alec you're drool… uh thinking about. In retaliation, she picked up his discarded cap and threw the ugly yellow thing at him.

"What?" He blinked sleepily at her.

"Stop pretending you're asleep and put your shirt back on."

"Why? Am I offending your fragile sensibilities?" He even dared to leer. The jerk.

"Is that how we're going to do this? Fine." There was enough brusque behind that last word to amaze him.

"Fine by me." He closed his eyes and made himself comfortable with a fuss. _Come on Maxie, put on that damn shirt. I don't want to start taking my pants off in this heat._

"Let's see who can hold out the longest. You'll probably get sunburn in ten minutes."

"Is that a dare?" Alec squinted in her direction. "And all we had to do is stay here, under the sun and see who goes down first?"

"Yup, and you can't put your shirt back on." Max's smile could only be described as devious but suddenly, Alec didn't care. Past annoyances and pink lace aside, he wanted to win this.

Max strolled into Jam Pony, humming softly under her breath. As she looked around, her brown eyes were bright. OC's perfectly plucked brows disappeared under her hair as she waited for Max.

"You looked happy, sugah. What gives?"

"Why shouldn't I? It's hot outside," Max practically purred her answer before she flicked her long hair over her shoulder.

"Uh huh," OC stared, a bit skeptical. "Did you get the cure? Is that why you're practically bouncing like a bunny?"

"Ugh. Don't get me started on that. It was a bust." A frown lined her smooth brow. "Note to self. Don't depend on Alec's Intel in the future."

"Too bad, boo. Sorry to hear that."

"Yeah." Max turned to her locker, but a smile was hovering over her lips. "But it was pretty okay. At least it wasn't raining there."

"Yup. Your boy had a nice tan going on."

_That he did. And no tan lines, _Max smirks. _Yesterday was a good day._

"Hey Alec, wait up!" _Good day indeed. _The smile didn't disappear as she made her way to the entrance.

**The End**

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_There you go. All done. Hope you like this! _:)


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